A1 14 1/2″ dovetail infill smoothing plane
After grinding and drilling the sides they are then screwed to a holding jig via jig screws for profiling.
Roughing out the shape on the A1 14.5 sides.
A1 sides being chamfered.
A1 4.5 after chamfering. The picture showing chamfering complete and removed from its holding jig. Even with all the time saved from not having to manually file there is still the polishing. This has to be done by hand with a great deal of care otherwise all the finish and precision can be lost. But the dovetailing needs to be done first.
A1 after the dovetailing. Picture showing dovetails after completion. In this situation there are only 4 sides but I would do up to 12.
Cutting the dovetails on the bottoms. These are usually done in pairs only as they need to be back to back to produce a compound dovetail. Saves a hell of a lot of filing.
Bottom dovetails complete.
A1 14.5 drilling and breaking through for mouth. Showing the bottom after the dovetailing, slotting for mouth and drilling holes for the frog riveting.
A14.5 frog riveting – a boring task; one of many of the riveting operations which I hate. The frog is one I prepared earlier.
Rivet flushing on frog.
Milling operation to the mouth after the frog has been riveted in position. Easy isn’t it?
Second part of the mouth forming.
Mouth almost complete but will need tuning at the final stages.
Once all the work on the sides and bottom is complete one of these is very useful to have. This is the tool I use for closing up i.e. joining bottoms to sides The inner former is precisionally machined from aluminium and also the two clamping plates are precisionally ground.
This picture is showing the plane assembled around its former with the dovetailed clamping plates applying pressure from a pair of milling vices, not just on the sides but also on the dovetails. The dovetails would have a tendency to spread pushing the sides of the plane wider apart. This means that I would start to lose the internal dimensions. This process of closing up is extremely critical as things will run out of true if they are not secured well enough. This can result in oversized and twisted plane body, There is a lot of evidence of this happening in some of the original infill planes that I have seen. This means that you will notice that these planes usually show no uniformity in thickness to the sides and bottoms.
As you can see I use a very light hammer and a punch for the closing up, which means that I can make the metal flow in whatever direction I want. The light hammer blows do not transmit too much stress into other areas.
Thanks for posting this! It wonderful to read how planes are made from a machinists’ point of view.
One question: I’m curious as to why the frog isn’t attached with your threaded rivits.
Comment by Craig D — June 26, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
One small nitpick, but it comes only because I am so interested in seeing how you do what you do. The picture you have for breaking through for the mouth is the same as the one above it.
Thank you for sharing how you make these planes. While it has taken away all my preconceptions about being able to do this myself (a la Kingshott), it is nonetheless fascinating to see the process. I look forward to future posts.
Comment by Glenn Whitener — June 27, 2009 @ 8:27 am
Thank Glenn, it was an error after resizing pictures. Now corrected.
k
Comment by admin — June 27, 2009 @ 11:24 am
Hi Craig
It is a good question and I will cover it on the blog shortly. The riveting I use on my infill planes is not only traditional but more pratical. There is no reason why you can’t use threaded rivets/bolts and I do this on my No 982. The reason I did this was because it was better suited for the criteria I had in mind as that particular application could have been affected by the stresses involved by normal riveting. Of course I should mention the obvious that any threaded rivets need to be locked with a threading compound not just screwed in.
k
Comment by admin — June 27, 2009 @ 11:38 am
Hello Karl,
I truley love your new blog..
Being a retired Tool Maker and avid Woodworker the pictures are like Eye Candy for me..
I think there are some Plane Makers who come close to you quality and beauty of your planes but no one can pass the lasy 20% of the way to make the exceptional planes you do…
On one has the heavy duty quality equipment you have in your shop..
I think your planes are in a class of there own ad no one comes close to turning out the Precision Wood Shaving Instruments you make..
Thanks so much for sharing some of your methods…
I am honored to call you a friend..
Johnny Kleso
http://www.REXMILL.com
Comment by Johnny Kleso aka rarebear — June 30, 2009 @ 10:44 pm
Hi Johnny
I always try and make every plane better than the last one. I have no set standard because I am always short of my target.
It is strange that my brother started out as a toolmaker yet has been making his living for the last 30 years as a woodworker. Whereas I started out as a cabinet maker/joiner and I never believed I could make a living from toolmaking (living that is all!).
k
k
Comment by admin — July 1, 2009 @ 9:52 am